Banksy's painted elephant is illegal, say officials

The British artist Banksy has been criticised by officials in California for the "frivolous abuse" of an elephant which he had painted to look like pink wallpaper.

The elephant, Tai, was the main attraction at Banksy's first US exhibition, which opened last week in Los Angeles, drawing celebrities including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Tai was painted to blend in with a set-up of a living room, and was supposed to symbolise how the problem of world poverty is ignored.

Los Angeles's Animal Services Department (ASD) had given a permit for the 38-year-old female elephant to appear at the exhibition, titled "Barely Legal".

However, officials later said that they regretted granting the permit, and yesterday ordered Tai's owners, Have Trunk Will Travel, to remove the floral spray-paint.

Ed Boks, the head of the ASD, said the order was made after consulting with two animal rights activists and the city attorney's office.

"The paint they had been using, although non-toxic, according to government regulations was unsafe, and even illegal to use the way they had been using it," Mr Boks said.

Mr Boks ordered that the elephant be completely scrubbed down to bare skin and that a child-safe face paint be used instead. He said his agency had tried to have the permits revoked entirely on Friday, but to do so may have taken five days, by which time the exhibition would be over.

Speaking in general about the use of the elephant, Mr Boks said: "I think it sends a very wrong message that abusing animals is not only OK, it's an art form. We find it no longer acceptable to dye baby chicks at Easter, but it's OK to dye an elephant. Permits will not be issued for such frivolous abuse of animals in the future."

Tai appeared unpainted in the living room yesterday, the final day of the show. "Well, it's better than being painted," said Bill Dyer from In Defence of Animals, an animal rights group that objected to the exhibit. Mr Dyer, who visited the exhibition on Friday afternoon, said that while Tai had not appeared to be distressed, her use was unnecessary and gimmicky.

The elephant's handlers have defended using Tai in the show, arguing that she has been well looked after. They said that she was regularly fed and given water, taken on bathroom breaks and driven from the warehouse each night back to her home on a ranch.

"Tai has done many, many movies. She's used to makeup," said Kari Johnson, co-owner of Have Trunk, Will Travel.

On opening night, cards were handed out which read: "There's an elephant in the room. There's a problem we never talk about." The statement went on to say there were billions of people living below the poverty line.

Banksy, a Bristol-born street graffiti artist who keeps his real name secret, regularly courts controversy. Most recently, to promote his show, he left an inflatable dummy depicting a Guantánamo Bay detainee in Disneyland.

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